Improvement in portable railway-tracks



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MANUEL PESANT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN PORTABLE RAILWAY-TRACKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 215,770, dated May 27, 1879 application filed April 14, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MANUEL PESANT, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Portable Tracks, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which the same letters of reference designate the same parts, and in which Figures 1 and 2 represent, respectively, the plan and the side elevation of two sections, A and B, of portable track, joined together as they are when in the working order. Each section consists of two rails, r r and r 1', e011- nected either perpendicularly or diagonally with iron bars a a a b and a a a b, which may be of any shape, it being a feature not constituting any part of my invention.

My improvement consists only in the manner in which the joint is made, and which is shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, representing, respectively, the side elevation, the cross-section, and the inverted plan of one of the joints, of which there are two between each two sections, and which are both alike.

In a portable track it is of importance that the joints between sections should be such as to prevent one section from rising above the other, or to move sidewise independently of the other 5 but it is not less important that a section may be easily disconnected or taken out from the track in order to be replaced by another, which may be a switch, a crossing, or a frog.

My joint possesses all these advantages as set forth, and will be readily understood from the following description: The bar I), which connects the rails at one end of the section, which may be flat, channel, or any other shape, and also serves as a support to the following section, projects about half of its width beyond the ends of the rails of the section with which it is riveted. the end of each rail, is a hole, h, (seen distinctly in Figs. 3, 4, and 5,) whose shape conforms with that of the head i of the hook or bolt 0. The hook c is fastened to the end of In this bar I), opposite the rail of the following section, and consti, tutes the essential part of my joint.

To join two sections the head 1' of the hook c is dropped into the hole h of the bar I), the same thing being simultaneously accomplished with both rails of the section, and the section is pushed toward the other until the head i of .the bolt 0 of each rail is prevented from rising up by the solid portion of the bar 1).

Figs. 3 and 5 show the position of the bolt 0 in the hole h when the joint is effected.

To disconnect two sections it is sufficient to raise them at their joint a few inches above the ground, and the head 2' of the bolt 0 of each rail will enter their respective holes h h in the bar 0, and the sections can be separated. The rounded shape of the head t of the hook or bolt 0, as seen in Fig. 3, facilitates this operation. Each section is provided at one end with a bar, I), having two holes, h h, (in Fig. 1 these holes, marked it h, in the bar b are seen and at the other end with two hooks or bolts, 0 c, as described.

In the accompanying drawings only one bolt, 0, is attached to the end of each rail; but it may be found desirable to have two of them, in which case extra holes in the bar b would have to be made.

I do not confine myself to any particular shape of the head i of the hook c, as it can be made round like the head of arivet, or of some other form, and still be essentially the same method of joining the sections together as that which I claim to be my invention.

The independent lateral motion of a section is prevented by the bolts 0 0 being held in the holes h h by the solid portion of the bar I). A small play for these bolts in the holes may be allowed for the sake of facilitating the action of joining the sections. Neither do 1 confine myself to the fastening of the hooks or bolts 0 c rigidly with the rails; but if it should suit my purpose better, these hooks may be made so as to be turned around their axis, so that their heads, after being put through the holes h h and turned to ninety degrees, could have a better hold of the bar b.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Lettel-s Patent, is-

1. The bolts or hooks c 0, attached to the rails at one end of the section, and the bar b, provided with holes h h to receive the heads of bolts 0 c at the other end of the section, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination of bolts 0 c of one sec- ,tion and the holes h h of bar I) of the subsequent section to form a joint, all substantially as shown and described.

MANUEL PESANT.

Witnesses:

JOHN T. BREWSTER, ANTONIO O. GONZALEZ. 

